Classical Connections

Brooding on the horizon in 79 A.D., the temperamental Mount
Vesuvius expunged its molten rock onto extravagant villas and slave
quarters alike.

In that year, a slice of ancient Roman society in all its pomp
and circumstance became indelibly preserved and simultaneously
hidden to human eyes.

Hundreds of years later, classical archaeologists uncovered
sites such as one hidden by the lava of Mount Vesuvius. The fruits
of these excavations offer both classicists and the general public
a glimpse into ancient life.

It is in this spirit of appreciation and understanding that the
recent opening of the Getty Villa in Malibu is being celebrated.
For the UCLA community, that also means new programs and facilities
to take advantage of.

The museum, bordered by the Pacific Ocean and coastal mountains,
has been closed since 1997 for an extensive renovation that
included an architectural makeover and state-of-the-art upgrades to
its artistic and educational facilities.

“The Getty Villa, which was the site of the original J.
Paul Getty Museum, has been a significant cultural landmark in Los
Angeles for some time, and one that our trustees and staff are
pleased to share again with a variety of audiences,” said
Barry Munitz, president and chief executive officer of the J. Paul
Getty Trust, in a press release.

Showcasing everything from religious vessels with Greek and
Roman gods to coins, gems and bronze statutes, Getty Villa is a
testament to the spirit of classical exploration and
preservation.

“Recently transformed, this companion setting to the Getty
Center in Los Angeles will be an important gateway connecting
today’s visitors to the ancient world,” Munitz added in
the press release.

In the same way the Villa provides a link between the public and
antiquity, the ancient sites that have been excavated link museums
to educational institutions such as UCLA.

From the archaeologically famous site of Pompeii to the
underwater Uluburun Shipwreck, excavation sites often act like
strings tying together experts from universities and museums
alike.

In fact, one of the towns buried by the eruption of Mount
Vesuvius has both directly and tangentially linked Getty Villa and
UCLA to one another.

Destroyed by the “pyroclastic flow” from the
volcano, Herculaneum and the wealthy Roman villas for which it was
known was buried by a mixture of hot ash, pumice, rock fragments
and volcanic gas.

Located in the Bay of Naples, Herculaneum was a seaside resort
used by wealthy Romans as an escape from hectic city life. For
classicists, that meant that expensive pieces of art and libraries
of papyrus were most likely buried underneath the hardened
lava.

What workers found in 1752 was just that: a wealthy villa with
an extraordinarily large library of charred scrolls of papyrus.

Called the Villa dei Papiri, the villa housed papyrus pieces
that enthused classicists who were hoping to learn more about
ancient literary works. The villa’s high quality of
preservation also inspired lovers of antiquity.

In fact, Getty Villa is a modern replica of the Villa dei Papiri
in Herculaneum.

Having made trips to the Bay of Naples since 1995, David Blank,
a UCLA classics professor, has been translating and unrolling these
ancient papyrus scrolls as part of the Philodemus Project.

The complicated and arduous history of the unraveling of the
scrolls began in the late 18th century and continues today, Blank
said.

During the first excavations, the scrolls were thought to be
congealed sticks of charcoal, so one can only imagine the
difficulty required to open and read them, Blank said.

In fact, at one point the scrolls’ outer layers were
pulverized with the butt of a knife so that their interiors could
be slowly unrolled, he said.

With the help of technological advancements, some of which were
adapted from Brigham Young University’s work with the Dead
Sea Scrolls, classicists have been able to decipher the texts.

Most of the scrolls unraveled from the Villa dei Papiri turned
out to be the writing of Philodemus, an epicurean philosopher.

“(Philodemus) thought that it wasn’t possible for
music to be educative. He wrote that music stayed in the ear and
couldn’t possibly affect the soul because the ear was an
irrational organ,” said Blank, whose work with the scrolls
concerns the works of Philodemus.

Aside from viewing the tangible items extracted from the Villa
dei Papiri, Getty Villa visitors will be able to observe the
Villa’s influence in the architecture and layout of the
actual museum.

Complete with grand garden columns and a picturesque pool, Getty
Villa is not only a receptacle for ancient art, but a
representation of it as well.

While much of the superstructure of the villa in Herculaneum
remains unexposed, its general outlay is well-known, said Susan
Downey, a UCLA classics and art history professor.

For that reason, it was a perfect model for duplication.

In 1968, businessman and philanthropist J. Paul Getty began
planning the construction of a Roman-style villa that would come to
house world-class antiquities.

In the early 1970s he sought the help of UCLA alumnus Norman
Neuerburg. With a doctorate in art history and hands-on experience
from his years in Italy, Neuerburg, who died in 1997, traveled to
England often to speak with Getty about the villa, said Downey, who
was a good friend of Neuerburg’s.

“He was really excited about it,” Downey said in
regard to the ancient architectural elements Neuerburg had planned
for the Getty Villa.

Weighing in on anything from the decorative elements on the
rooftops to the garden statuaries, Neuerburg acted as one of the
major historical consultants at the Getty Villa.

Neuerburg had decorated his own home with ancient motifs, but
working on such a grand scale at the Villa “was a thrill for
him,” said Downey.

Now that the newly renovated Villa is open to the public, the
architectural elements that once inspired Neuerburg will be on
display once again.

After years of waiting for the Villa to open, classics
professors at UCLA are excited they’ll be able to take
advantage of its facilities.

Professor Robert Gurval often teaches a general education class
on Roman culture and hopes to enhance the course by taking his
students on tours of Getty Villa.

A new masters program, cosponsored by the UCLA Cotsen Institute
of Technology and the Getty, will allow its students to get a UC
diploma and use the conservation facilities at the Villa.